Travelling in circles
by Blue Roses
Summary: Duo gets a message, and visits an old friend. A search for romance and a journey of discovery follow. Will love win out, or will they end up where they began? 1x2 and 3x4.
1. Default Chapter

#### **Travelling in circles**

By Blue Roses

Duo gets a message, and visits and old friend. 

Eventual 1x2 and 3x4 (Heero/Duo and Trowa/Quatre). Warnings of shounen ai, but not really in this part. I'm not completely sure if I've got all the details of the series right, so forgive me if I've gone wrong. This is the first part in an ongoing series. Thank you for reading.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, please don't sue.

***

Duo checked the piece of paper for what must have been the millionth time, and then looked at the plane he had just sat down in. It was not just the smell of fruit rotting that bothered him, so much as the odd creaking sound that seemed to be coming from the wings. The age of the pilot both reassured him and worried him; he'd obviously survived many, many trips in this plane before, but then should he really be flying at his age?

Thoughts of escape left Duo's head as the plane began to taxi down the runway. If the worst came to the worst, he decided, he'd take over and pilot the thing himself. He'd always been able to fly, drive or steer pretty much anything, although this was a total antique. Oh well, he consoled himself, at least he wouldn't have to worry about airsickness. He'd seen on his previous flight how bad that could be. Anyone who suffered from that wouldn't last in any sort of mobile suit for more than five minutes, let alone a Gundam. They had excellent stabilisers, but in battle nothing could compensate for the quick moves you had to make.

The plane took off more easily than Duo had expected, and he had a wonderful view of the island they were flying over. He hadn't really thought about the place before, it was just the last stop on what had been a very long journey, but he realised that it was a really lovely place. The heat he had noticed, of course, that and the smell of petrol being the first thing to hit him at the airport, but it wasn't until now he'd considered that it might be a nice place.

*

His window side seat gave him a good view of the rainforest areas they were flying over. The aeroplane was flying quite low, and from his vantage point he could spot many trees and a lot of wildlife. Then they came to the sea, and the expanse of untouched sand and silver water was almost shocking when compared to the vibrant green before it.

He spent the journey over the sea wondering exactly who had asked for him to come all this way. It was one of the pilots, he knew, but he couldn't tell which one from the note. Heero he ruled out almost immediately. They hadn't parted on the best of terms, and he couldn't think of any reason why the pilot would want to see him. 

It wasn't Wufei's style either. If he wanted something, he'd say so. Subtlety and mystery weren't things he enjoyed. Trowa on the other hand, cultivated mystery, but this didn't seem like something he'd set up. For one thing, the setting was far too beautiful for his tastes, and for another Duo couldn't see him bothering enough to arrange the travel and pay for his expenses. 

That left Quatre. It had to be him. The thoughtfulness of the meeting Duo could definitely see as something he'd do, and he'd never been adverse to surprises. That left only the reason for the visit a mystery.

Duo was pretty sure he could work out at least part of that as well. Quatre had always been closest to Trowa out of all the pilots. There was something between them that, although it was unexpressed, it was obvious to Duo. He'd been Quatre's next best friend, although that was not a surprise given both Heero and Wufei's brusque personalities. 

The last time they'd all met up, though, Trowa had seemed rather short with Quatre. Duo surmised that this visit was for Quatre to ask him what to do about his relationship, or lack of relationship with the quiet pilot.

Sitting in the rickety plane flying above the Caribbean sea, Duo almost laughed. Quatre asking him about relationships? If that was what he was going to do, this would be an interesting trip indeed.

He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the uncertain motion of the plane, and let the heat wrap around him like a blanket. It had been a long journey so far, and the revelation whether his assumption had been right would surely mean that the adventure could not be over yet.

***

Duo woke with a thud as the plane landed ungracefully on the island. It was a small, privately owned place, he had been told, and few people visited. In fact, the pilot informed him, he was only the second person to have flown there all year.

When the pilot had wrestled open the door, Duo ducked out with his bags. As he climbed down, he noticed a small blond figure rising to meet him. As expected, the mystery host was Quatre.

He grinned his best grin. "Long time no see, Quatre, how's things? Been doing much lately? I was kind of at a loose end, glad to get your note. This place is amazing."

Quatre smiled softly at his friend's chatter. "I'm glad you could come, Duo, it's been a long time. We should do this more often. I was looking forward to seeing you."

The pilot of the small plane came up and Quatre paid him, thanking him, and promising to contact him once the plane was needed again. Duo, who had been staring at the surroundings caught this final remark, and commented on it to Quatre once the man had gone.

"How're you going to contact him, smoke signals? Doesn't look like you're wired up here."

Quatre laughed. "I've got a boat, I can take it to the village on the nearest island. They've got phones there, it's not far. It is a bit of a problem in hurricane season, though."

Duo blanched. "Hurricanes? You get a lot of them? 'Cos, you know, I'm not mad about the thought of getting blown away. It's not the way I'd like to die."

Quatre shook his head. "Don't worry, hurricane season is months away. The house is pretty much hurricane proof anyway. Would you like to see it?"

"Yeah, sounds good. Got anything to drink? I'm really thirsty."

"Of course. Bad trip?"

"Well I had the passenger from hell in front of me on the first plane, she was always calling the air hostess for stupid reasons, and I had one of the most nervous guys I have ever met behind me. We only just managed to keep him in his seat during take off, I think he wanted to jump out. Apart from that, and the tin can that that guy you just paid calls an aeroplane, it wasn't too bad."

Quatre tried to hide his smile. Duo was just as he had remembered, and his humour was infectious. He felt his spirits lift as they hadn't in a long while. It was really good to be in someone's company again. The pressures of life had driven him out here, but he was a sociable person, and even the beauty around him couldn't disguise the loneliness for some company.

They approached the house, which caused Duo to stop and stare. He had been vaguely imagining Quatre living in a beach hut to complete the rural setting. This was far from that.

It was a white painted two story house, which looked airy and light. It was large, and didn't look out of place in the leafy grove it occupied. Palm trees brushed the roof, completing the impression of an ideal getaway, or a soft drinks advert.

Duo was struck by this image so much that he remained speechless for at least three minutes, which as Quatre mentioned jokingly, may well have been a record. However, by the time he had entered the house, he had recovered his power of speech, and the two chatted steadily for the next few hours, as Quatre showed Duo over the house. They talked about little things, catching up, but not really mentioning what had been going on in their lives. They were reaffirming their friendship before testing the waters about where their lives were going.

The room that most enchanted Duo was his bedroom. It was next to Quatre's and the most striking feature was the canopied four-poster bed, that stood against one wall. All of the furnishings were in white, including a small sofa, desk, chairs, and wrought iron furniture on a wide balcony, overlooking the back of the house. A bathroom with a large shower and a sunken bath lay behind a door at one side of the room, and behind another lay Quatre's room, which was similarly furnished to his.

Seeing there was a pile of pillows on his bed, Duo was struck by an odd question. "Quatre, who does your laundry?"

"There's a machine downstairs"

"You mean you do it yourself?"

"No, actually one of the ladies from the nearest village comes in and cleans twice a week. She brings some food for me too. I do my own cooking though."

Duo, who preferred take-away, although he could cook quite well when pressed, was impressed by this level of domesticity. He assumed Quatre had always had servants to do that sort of thing. Then again, if he'd been brought up being looked after, cooking his own food might seem an adventure. Duo had always had to fend for himself, so it didn't appeal to him as much as it might do to Quatre.

The afternoon faded into evening, and Duo helped Quatre prepare a simple meal (after much arguing as to who got to wear the apron and be the chef.) They ate in the kitchen, then cleaned up and wandered out onto the porch. Duo was the first to break the stillness.

"So, what do you do all the time here? Doesn't look as if you can be having a very happening social life."

"It is quiet." Quatre agreed, "But it gives me time to think."

"About who?" Duo asked.

Quatre looked up, startled.

"About him?" Duo hazarded.

Quatre dropped his head in an almost invisible nod. 

"Trowa" he murmured.

There was along silence. Duo, for once, couldn't decide what to say. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask, that he ended up staying silent, just watching Quatre.

In the end, Quatre got up and said "I'm going to bed." quietly, recalling Duo to the room, and the fact that the sun had already gone down. He followed Quatre, and entered his own room, tossing and turning for a long time before he could fall asleep on the white sheets.


	2. Travelling in Circles

Travelling in Circles: Chapter 2 

By Blue Roses.

Warnings and disclaimers in chapter 1.

***

In the morning, Duo woke to the smell of cooking. He walked downstairs and found Quatre making scrambled eggs. He was looking more cheerful, and had obviously decided to ignore the conversation of the night before. Duo didn't mind. He was sure this couldn't continue for long.

They sat on the porch to eat their breakfast where a little bird with a yellow breast shared their table and tried to share Duo's breakfast. He had looked so sweet sitting there cocking his head at them that they had been please to see him, until he grabbed the nearest piece of toast, which happened to be on Duo's plate.

Quatre was very amused to hear Duo's cry of "Thief!" and watched him chase the offender to a nearby tree where he sat enjoying it as Duo looked on helplessly, unable to reach him.

When Duo had admitted defeat and come back to the table, Quatre outlined his plan for the day, to go to the nearest village to get more food and some things that they needed. Duo agreed, not mentioning their earlier conversation or that he wanted to continue it. He knew they would talk, but it had to come on Quatre's terms.

They wandered down to the beach where Quatre's boat was. They pulled the bright blue fishing boat out into the water and waded out barefoot to get into it, throwing their shoes into the boat in front of them, and getting quite a lot of water in the boat with them as they climbed in.

The water was a clear blue, and the sand below it was bright yellow. They bobbed along, Quatre steering and Duo trying to spot tropical fish in the water. He saw quite a few whilst they were going along, and at one point, Quatre was afraid that he would put them both in the water with his excitement.

The village was a small, brightly painted place, and the local shop was well stocked and staffed by a very helpful and relaxed rasta man, who had reggae music playing in the background. They bought their food and had a look around the place. Duo was enchanted with it. He loved the fact that they saw chickens running in peoples' gardens. "Look!" he said to Quatre, "fast food!". A cow looked at them with a deep stare from where it was tied to a house, and they watched the fishermen going out to sea.

Once they had left the village they discussed what they thought life must have been like there. Duo thought he'd like to live there among the palm trees, and fishing nets, but Quatre disagreed.

"Did you see how small their houses were? Not that you need a big house, but they're probably quite poor, and it must be difficult to survive. You can be unhappy even in paradise."

Duo looked at his friend for a moment, then decided to risk it. "Like you are?" he asked.

"I'm not poor." said Quatre, missing the point.

"No, but you are unhappy."

"I suppose so."

They left it there for the while, as Duo was worried that if they started talking about anything too important that Quatre would forget he was driving the little boat and drive them into some rocks. Duo preferred to know when he was going swimming - he was still getting used to the sea, because they didn't have seas on the colonies, water was too precious for it not to be controlled. He liked the sea, but he didn't quite trust it yet. 

When they had returned, and Quatre had packed away all of the things they had bought they went to sit on the beach. Watching the waves breaking on the sand and sitting there, Duo decided it was time for their 'little talk'.

"So, Quatre, tell me what's bothering you."

"Well, it's not much really."

"Come on, it must be pretty important for you to give up on civilisation. However lovely this place is, it's not exactly buzzing with people." 

"I like the quiet."

"Stop avoiding the question. Tell me what's wrong. It's to do with Trowa, isn't it."

"Yeah."

"Well, what's wrong?" Duo asked more gently.

"Well, umm, you see..." there was a pause "I think I'm in love with him."

Duo sighed inwardly. Finally they had reached the point of this. He'd always guessed that that was the case. "And you can't tell him that?"

"Well, I don't know what his reaction will be."

Duo nodded. He wished he had a good answer, but he knew how difficult it could be. He didn't think Quatre would have too much of a problem, though. "This is Trowa we're talking about. Quatre he's your best friend, and I've seen you together. He's not going to chuck you out, or ignore you. He's not the sort of perfectly arrogant bastard who would do a thing like that."

"Sound like you're talking about someone specific there, Duo."

"Who, me? No. Just talking about Trowa, no one else."

"You know asking your advice about this wasn't the only reason I asked you here to talk about, Duo."

"Really?" Duo was surprised slightly. He couldn't think of anything else that Quatre would be worried enough about to ask him all the way out here.

"No. I asked you here because I wanted to know if you felt that way about Heero."

Duo almost fell off his chair. "Heero?" he stuttered.

"Yes" said Quatre

Duo stared at Quatre and then sighed. "Is it that obvious?" he asked.

Quatre looked slightly startled. "No Duo, I didn't know. I couldn't tell what you were feeling. I only wanted to ask because I know Heero feels that way about you."

This time Duo did fall off his chair. He was unable to speak except to murmur "Heero?" so Quatre decided to fill him in.

"I saw him in London, I was there to see a business contract. We just bumped into one another in a coffee shop. I'm not sure why he was there, he didn't say, but we started talking about you. Duo, I'm sure he feels something for you."

"Did he say that?" Whispered Duo.

"Well no, not exactly."

"Then how do you know?"

"Well, I had a very strong feeling. Heero is usually really difficult to read, you know, but he talked to me about you a lot."

"You almost gave me a heart attack over an unconfirmed feeling? I thought he'd told you or something. I can't believe you did that to me Quatre!"

"But I'm sure he feels something for you, Duo."

"Yeah, hatred and annoyance probably."

"But you love him..."

"Well, I'm an idiot. Only someone as stupid as me would fall for a rock like Heero Yuy. I don't think he has human feelings except for duty and suicidal tendencies."

"Then why do you love him?"

"I don't know. Because he's gorgeous probably. I can't help it. When he's around everything else just fades into the background, and it doesn't really matter what he does, it's enough that he's there. I could put up with his moods and his seriousness if I thought that he felt something for me apart from annoyance though. It would make it all worth it, that I'd touched him in some way."

"You have, Duo. You're his main topic of conversation, believe me. He wouldn't talk that way about you if you just annoyed him."

"He might. You don't know Heero like I do."

"Exactly. No one knows him like you do. No one's managed to get as close as you have."

"I don't know." Duo looked doubtful.

"Believe me, Duo, you should tell him how you feel. If you love him it's worth taking the chance."

Duo looked at his friend and grinned suddenly. "I'll only tell him if you tell Trowa." he said.

"Blackmail?" Asked Quatre.

"Of course! We could make a trip of it, go together and find them both. I have to make sure you hold up your end of the bargain." The teasing, laughing note was back in Duo's voice, but Quatre took his suggestion seriously.

"Good idea! We'll get the plane to come tomorrow." he jumped up, "I have to pack!"

"Hey! Does it have to be that soon? Can't we think about it or something first?"

"This is important Duo." said Quatre who was already grabbing things he thought he would need from around the house. "Anyway, if I left it, you'd manage to think of an excuse to get out of it. We have to do this sometime, it might as well be now."

"So much for my holiday in paradise." sighed Duo.


	3. Travelling in Circles: France

Travelling in Circles: Chapter 3

By Blue Roses

Warnings and Disclaimers in Chapter 1

***

The journey out was less uncomfortable than the journey in had been, mainly because this time Duo had someone to share the experience with. Even so, he had a feeling of anti-climax somehow, heading away from the sun. What was worse was the sinking feeling he got whenever he thought about what Quatre was expecting him to do.

"How did you get yourself into this mess, Maxwell?" he thought to himself. He couldn't imagine what Heero would say to him, but his brain kept conjuring up pictures of Heero's trademark frown, and he knew it was going to be bad whatever happened.

They were heading to Paris because Heero had mentioned it in passing to Quatre, and they'd decided it was as good a place as any to start their search. The city had once belonged in the country of France, and although national borders were meant to be a thing of the past, French was still spoken by almost everyone there.

Standing in the airport, trying to reach the centre of the city, Duo was glad he'd taken a few French courses during his training. He'd done it at the time, because he'd seen an old film and he was convinced that France was the best place to pick up girls on Earth. 

That reasoning didn't stop the little he had learnt from being helpful now. He might even be able to use some of the expressions he'd been saving for the girls on Heero, although he couldn't see Heero as the romantic type. He sighed half in amusement and half in despair. 'Je t'aime Heero' he thought 'Je t'aime'

***

Once they arrived at their hotel, Duo went to his room, complaining of not feeling well, and Quatre set up his computer and began to start the search for Heero and Trowa.

After a few hours, Quatre decided to have a rest from searching for Trowa and Heero. He need more information before he went any further, not being as good a hacker as Heero he needed help from other contacts. Unfortunately, they all seemed to be out, so he took the time to explore Paris.

He had been here once before, on a flying visit, but he had been touched by the spirit of the place. Even during the war it had kept its charm, and luckily it hadn't been badly damaged. The few buildings that had been wrecked were replaced with others that continued the Parisian style so well it didn't matter that they were new. Paris had always been a place that was modern, but that didn't stop it looking back to its past with pride. 

Quatre wandered past the Louvre, the greatest art gallery in the city, and one of the best in the world, but was put off by the crowds of tourists trying to get in. He decided to leave seeing the Mona Lisa for another time, and sat down at a nearby cafe to have an ice cream. The weather was warm, and he sat outside, enjoying it, and the sound of people chattering around him.

The ice cream, when it came, reminded him of Trowa. It was chocolate chip, Quatre's favourite flavour, as Trowa had found out. Whenever he was having a particularly bad day, he would usually find a bowl of it, with chocolate wafers in it of course, which Trowa had put out for him. 

The thought made him more determined to tell Trowa how he felt. How could he not love someone like that? He might be quiet, but he was incredibly thoughtful.

***

When he returned to their hotel, Quatre found Duo sitting in his room. Since there were no messages for him, he decided to try and cheer the other boy up. He wasn't convinced by the other boy's tale of a stomach ache, he was sure that it was nerves and worry that were troubling him.

"Come on Duo, we're in Paris! This is one of the loveliest cities on Earth. You can't just sit there, you have to see at least some of it."

"Yeah, the most romantic city in the world, and I'm sitting here worrying what I'm going to say to the guy I'm in love with. Sometime I wish I'd never got into this in the first place. Living in denial and despair seems so much easier."

"Duo! You don't think that really do you? Acknowledging your feelings sets you free. You'll feel much better when you've seen Heero."

"I know, I know, I was just moaning. It's fun to do that once in a while, you should try it! I do love him, and I know it's a good thing. I just wish life didn't have to be so hard. Life sucks. Even when it's going well it kinda sucks. Anyway, I'll try and get rid of the doom and gloom, it's getting old. So, what did you want to do in Paris then?"

"Well, there's this great art gallery I'd like to visit."

"Wonderful. A museum. Just what I'd like to do" said Duo sarcastically. "Anyway, it's quite late, why don't we go get something to eat?"

"Good idea, we can go and have a traditional French meal. No hamburgers tonight Duo."

Duo looked worried. "Isn't a traditional French meal frog's legs and snails and stuff? I'm sorry, I'm not eating that stuff. I think I saw a McDonalds near here, they must have some proper food, I think I'll eat there. You go and enjoy yourself."

"No Duo, you don't have to eat frog's legs. Give it a try, I think you'll like it."

Duo reluctantly agreed, and the two of them wandered out into the darkening Paris streets. By the time they found a restaurant they both agreed on (one without frog's legs or snails on the menu), Duo was complaining that he was starving. Used to the concept of 'fast food' he was not impressed with Quatre's explanation that people here liked to take time over their dinner to enjoy it, and by the time the food arrived, he had eaten both his and Quatre's bread rolls as well as a tube of mints and some chocolate that Quatre had found in a pocket.

Once the food did arrive, Duo cheered up considerably. It was as good as Quatre had said, and he managed to find room for two deserts as well. Quatre looked on with amazement at the amount of food he managed to eat, and wondered where he put it all. 

After they had finished, they got up, feeling completely full but not too sleepy thanks to the large cups of coffee they had drunk at the end of their meal. The sky above them was a deep blue, and they wandered together along the banks of the river Seine that ran right throughout the city, watching the people around them and occasionally pointing things out to each other.

The lights of the city sparkled on the dark water, and the paved waterfront was occupied with many groups of people, often couples, strolling and talking animatedly, enjoying the might. Duo tried to listen in to some of the conversations, but with little success.

"They talk even more than me!" he complained to Quatre. "I can't understand what they're saying when they talk so fast."

"You really shouldn't listen to what other people are saying, Duo, it's not polite."

"I'm just trying to improve my French. I've got to listen to people to do that, and they're saying more interesting things now. You see that couple over there" he indicated with a nod of his head and a flick of his braid to where an older man was bending over a leggy blond woman and saying something to her in an undertone which was just audible from where Duo and Quatre had stopped to look at the city. "They're having an extremely interesting conversation."

"No Duo, I'd rather not know what they're saying if you don't mind."

"It's your loss. I must remember some of these phrases." Quatre looked at him, surprised. "Oh no, I'm not going to use them Quatre, but it might be useful"

After a moment's thought Quatre decided not to ask what Duo thought he might find it useful for, as he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

They walked back to the hotel, having to stop several times for Duo to buy things he saw in the shops they passed. Why he needed sunglasses at night, and how he had room for the chocolate he bought Quatre wasn't sure, but they seemed to make him happy all the same.

Arriving back at the hotel, an old place, with undeniable charm, they went to reception to collect their keys. The receptionist, whom Duo and Quatre had both agreed earlier looked rather like Relena, came back with the keys and a message for Quatre. 

"A lady dropped this off this afternoon, while you were out. She said you'd contacted her about finding a friend and she thought she could help."

Quatre thanked the receptionist, and Duo watched as he eagerly unfolded the smooth white piece of paper. He was almost holding his breath. Duo couldn't wait to find out who it was from and whether they knew where Heero, or even Trowa was.

He felt like tearing the note out of Quatre's hand as he was reading it, he was so impatient.

He didn't have long to wait. Quatre looked up, a wondering but joyful smile on his face.

"It's Sally Po" he said "She says she knows where Trowa is." 


	4. Travelling in Circles: France 2

Travelling in Circles: Chapter 4

Sorry this is taking me ages, I've been having a bit of trouble with it. I hope you like it. 

Thank you everyone, especially Aayanna for all your lovely reviews :)

Warnings and Disclaimers in Chapter 1

***

Duo smiled, but his smile was not as delighted as Quatre's. He was very happy for his friend, of course, but Quatre's blissful smile reminded him of how much he wanted to see Heero again. He vowed to start searching harder rather than sulking or worrying.

Quatre handed Duo the letter which Sally Po had sent them. It was neat and concise. Duo read it to himself.

"Quatre Robaba Winner,

I have information about the whereabouts of Trowa Barton. Meet me tomorrow at 10.00 in your hotel lobby,

Regards,

Sally Po"

Duo was glad for Quatre. Although Sally Po could sometimes seem distant, she was always fair, and it would not occur to her to make something like this up. If she said she had information, then you could be pretty sure that it was something good. She had a soldier's mind, and a great memory for little details.

Duo's only worry now was what would happen when they did find Trowa. As he had said to Quatre, he didn't think he'd have too many problems with Trowa rejecting him, they seemed so close already, if he didn't know better, he might have thought they were lovers already. Then again, there was the possibility that Trowa was straight.

Duo wracked his memory, while Quatre chattered nervously about how excited he was, for any dates he could think of Trowa going on. He came up not surprisingly blankly, when it came to going out, Trowa was almost as reclusive as Heero. There was that girl at the circus, Catherine, but Duo was a good judge of relationships usually, and he was pretty sure there was nothing there. 

The fact that she thought of Trowa as her brother convinced him. He couldn't think of Trowa sleeping with someone who thought of him in that way, and he didn't think that was what she wanted from him either, she seemed more intent on building up a family for herself. 

She must have had bad experiences with her own family to want to build a new one, Duo mused. Most people he had met wanted to keep the one they'd got. Then again, he wasn't the expert on families; neither he nor most of the pilots had the most usual relationships with their parents, which went a way to explaining their lifestyles.

Duo was broken out of his reverie by the sound of Quatre wondering out loud what he should wear when he went to meet Trowa, and whether they should offer to take Sally Po out to eat before they started pumping her for information.

Duo laughed at Quatre's nerves, although he was sure that he was really worrying about the same things that Duo was, and just not wanting to talk about them. Duo took Quatre's hand and swung it.

"Don't worry, Quatre, man, it'll be fine. We'll see this woman, she'll tell us what she knows and we'll go from there. No use worrying what happens after that. I don't want to be the one that spoils the party for you, but she might not know as much you want her too. We'll just have to wait and see."

Quatre was almost bouncing up and down on the spot, since Duo had prevented him from walking about to release some of his feelings. "I know she might not find Trowa for us, but I can't help hoping that she does. I'm so excited, Duo, I don't know how I'm going to stand waiting until tomorrow.

Duo almost sighed. He wanted Quatre to be happy, but the though of him bouncing for so long even started to wear him out. He started to form a plan to keep Quatre occupied.

***

During the night, Duo and Quatre managed to play every board game the hotel owned, including Risk, Chess, Scrabble and Monopoly. Quatre, not surprisingly, had won Risk and Chess, whereas Duo had surprised Quatre by having quite a large vocabulary, and managing to win Scrabble. Neither of them had won Monopoly, as they had persuaded the rather bored receptionist to join them, and she had managed to bankrupt them both.

At 6.00, Duo's high had worn off, so he went and had a nap, whilst Quatre, who was still very excited, went out to buy some bread for their breakfast. He found a nearby bakery that had opened, and brought the bread up to Duo's room, where they both ate it sitting on the bed, and made an awful mess with all the crumbs. Duo felt rather guilty about what the cleaning people would think, so whilst Quatre went off to have a shower, he tried to get rid of the evidence out of the window. This was not very successful, and attracted rather a large amount of pigeons, as well as annoying the people walking below, so he soon gave up on the idea.

Sally arrived promptly at 10.00, looking smart, with her hair in its usually twists. The two pilots, who had been on the lookout for her for the past hour, jumped up at her arrival. Quatre tried to curb his enthusiasm, but couldn't stop the large smile that appeared on his face.

He walked quickly towards Sally Po, with Duo alongside him, and greeted her warmly. She returned the greeting, with not as much warmth, perhaps, but then she was not counting on it as much as Quatre was. She was fond of the Gundam pilots, though, and respected them, so she was willing to help them out when the contacted her.

"Quatre, Duo, it's nice to see you both."

"Yes, it's nice to see you too, it's been a while" said Quatre. He was obviously desperate to get past this stage in the conversation, but his inbred sense of politeness wouldn't let him.

Sally seemed to sense Quatre's discomfort and impatience, so she got straight to the point. "Is there somewhere where we can talk privately, all three of us? I don't really want to talk about this in the lobby of a hotel."

Quatre immediately said "Of course. We can go to a cafe if you'd rather, or you can come up to our rooms."

Sally considered this. "Well go to a cafe, I think. Not that anyone should be listening, but it's good practice to change the locations of your meetings.

Quatre and Duo shared a rueful smile at this obvious war-technique, they too had been finding it hard to give up old habits, but they didn't say anything.

They went to one of the nearest cafes, Quatre's politeness being enough to yield to other peoples' requests, but his impatience being too strong to wait for much longer. He needed to know what Sally knew, and now she was here, he couldn't stand waiting any more.

Sally sat down and made a show of looking at the menu and ordering, so the other two followed suit. Then she turned to them, and started to speak.

"I told you I have information on where Trowa is, and I do. One month ago, I was told that there was a new circus setting up in the outskirts of Paris. It was the birthday of a friend of mine, so we decided to go there to celebrate. When we were there, I noticed that the manager's name was T. Burton. I thought it could possibly be Trowa, and when I got back I looked for information on the manager of the circus to see if I was right. The search I did didn't uncover any background material at all, which is unusual, because there is usually something. I didn't look any further, because I thought if it was Trowa, I wanted to respect his privacy. I haven't told anyone else, but I thought he'd want you to find him." 

Quatre thanked Sally profusely, and got from her all of the details that she could remember about the circus. When they had finished their coffee, he and Duo said their goodbyes, and the two boys walked, or in Quatre's case skipped, back to the hotel.

"I'm so excited Duo. We'll go over there now, and see if it's him, shall we?"

"I suppose so. I don't want you to get your hopes up too high, though Quatre."

"I'm sure this is him, but don't worry about me. I won't be too disappointed if it isn't"

They got a ride to the area in which the circus was, and then walked up to the main entrance. There were a few people scattered about, but they were hurrying to get out of the spattering rain, and it looked quite desolate otherwise. 

Duo approached one of the circus people, who was cleaning the animal cages, and asked them where he could find the manager. "Mr Barton is in his office" he was told, and the man pointed to a large trailer, which obviously served as a mobile office.

They entered the office, and a familiar face looked up from behind his usual curtain of hair.

"Trowa!" exclaimed Quatre. 

Trowa looked shocked. Duo noted the moment with surprise, as he thought it might be the only spontaneous emotion he would ever see crossing the stoic pilot's face. "Quatre?" he said 

"I wanted to see you, Trowa. Duo and I were looking for you. It's been a long while, I wondered what had happened to you. I missed you, Trowa"

"I missed you too, Quatre."

Trowa didn't seem to have anything else to say, so Quatre went on rather awkwardly "Well, I can see you've been doing well. This is a nice place" Quatre trailed off, and they looked at each other, both of them feeling foolish, and not knowing what to say.

Suddenly a small boy burst into the room, breaking the silence and panting quickly to Trowa, "There's trouble with the lions, Sir, Rachel says she needs you there"

Trowa looked slightly annoyed, but turned to Quatre. "I have to go and help them." he said "I'll be back soon."

Quatre nodded and watched him as he walked swiftly out of the door, not waiting for the boy to lead the way, sure of his position and where he was going.

Duo turned to Quatre. "You didn't tell him!" he said, with a mixture of hurt and annoyance.

Quatre looked back at him, and the expression in his eyes was akin to panic. "I'm sorry Duo. I just didn't know what to say. I really don't know how he'll react. Now I've got here I can't bring myself to say it at all."

Duo softened, and his petulant expression disappeared. "Hey, don't worry about it, you haven't seen each other for a while, and I know how hard it is. How about I leave you two to get up to date, and you can think about telling him later."

Quatre's smile was a grateful one. "Thank you Duo. I couldn't handle being rushed into this, but you don't have to go if you don't want to."

"It's no problem, and you two'd probably connect better if I wasn't here. I'll go and have a look 'round, and I'll see you later. Tell Trowa I had to go off, and I'm sorry I couldn't speak to him more."

"I will. Thanks again Duo"

"Have fun!" said Duo, with a wink, and left, letting the door bang behind him.

Once Duo had gone, the room seemed much emptier, and the pale sunlight falling through the window seemed to Quatre to give the place an even more lonely look. He wondered how Trowa lived here all alone, then he wondered if perhaps Trowa liked being alone, and was annoyed at Quatre for disturbing his peace. This thought worried him greatly, he knew if anyone apart from Trowa had disturbed him on his island without him inviting them, he would have been secretly very annoyed. 

What if Trowa felt the same way? He didn't want to annoy Trowa, and he knew the other pilot wouldn't be rude, and chuck him out, but what if he was just trying to think of the words to say to get rid of him? 

Quatre couldn't stand it. He got up, and scribbled a note to Trowa, which he left on the desk, with the name of their hotel on it, and he left the circus with a heavy heart.


	5. Travelling in Circles

Travelling in Circles: Chapter 5

by Blue Roses

Warnings and Disclaimers in Chapter 1.

***

"Duo, what am I going to do? I know what I want to say, I just can't think of the right words and the situation is always going to be wrong." siad Quatre, desparately.

"Hey, don't worry, it'll be ok. Just say it. 'Trowa, I'm in love with you' or 'Trowa, I want you' or even 'come here baby, I want you'" Quatre giggled at Duo's impressions of him, and tried to imagine saying those words to Trowa. "You could take him to the Eiffel Tower" Duo continued "It's meant to be really romantic. Take him there, tell Trowa you're in love with him, then..."

Duo broke off, and Quatre never got to hear the rest of his suggestion. Duo was staring at the door with a startled look on his face. Quatre turned around to see what had caused it, and there, at the door of his hotle room stood Trowa, looking as if he had been there for a while.

"Um, guys...I think I'll go" said Duo, obviously deciding that he should leave the two of them alone,. and making a hasty exit. He breezed out quickly, shutting the door behind him.

Trowa walked towards Quatre, who felt almost naked as he was approached. His feelings had been bared, and this was the decision he had been waiting for. He couldn't stand the tension, and his own vulnerability. He focussed on the traffic sounds outside his window, anything other than Trowa's approaching footsteps.

"Is what Duo said before true? Do you love me?"

"Yes" said Quatre, drawing on reserves of strength to get the word out. He felt like it was his last breath.

Trowa took one step nearer, and then another. He stopped, looked at Quatre, and then bent towards him, as if telling a secret.

"I love you too" he said quietly.

Quatre thought he would melt, or possibly explode. He couldn't believe it. His wish had been granted. He leaned towards Trowa, and their mouths touched in a kiss.

***

The kiss had turned into another, and that had melted into the next, so by the time Duo sneaked back to see how they were getting on, they were still standing in the same place, engrossed in each other's lips, and the feeling of closeness.

Duo shut the door and left them to it.

***

Hearing the door click behind Duo, Quatre slowly pulled away from Trowa to see what the noise was. Seeing nothing, he turned back. 

He was about to initiate another kiss, when he realised he hadn't been totally open with Trowa. If they were going to start a relationship then he should tell him the truth from the beginning. 

"I came here to tell you I loved you, Trowa. Duo and I had a bet - well, he knew how I felt about you, and he convinced me that I should tell you. I know I should have before, but I was scared." At this point, Trowa wrapped his arms around Quatre, and rested his chin on his head. Neither of them had to be scared any more.

"Anyway, I was looking for you so I could tell you how I felt, but when I saw you again I couldn't think of the words. I wanted to tell you but I couldn't. I love you, Trowa."

In reply, Trowa pulled him closer and kissed Quatre on the neck. He shivered, he had a weak spot there, as Trowa was discovering.

"I loved you too, right from the start." said Trowa "I tried to hide my feelings, even from myself, but it didn't work. You have too much of an effect on me. I don't want to leave you."

"I don't want you to leave either" said Quatre "please don't go."

"It's getting late" said Trowa, and Quatre looked out of the window, and realised that it was much later than he had thought.

"We can both stay here. I don't mean..." Quatre blushed, he wasn't sure what he wanted to say. "We can sleep here. I don't think I'm ready for much yet, but..."

"It's OK." said Trowa, diffusing Quatre's worry. 

They sat down on the bed, where soon, tired out from the events of the day, they fell asleep, wrapped in each others' arms.

***

The next day dawned bright and early. Duo, brimming with curiosity peeked round the door to the room he had left Trowa and Quatre in. They were curled up together on the bed, both still clothed, but as close to each other as they could get otherwise.

Duo sighed. It didn't look as if there was anything much he could tease Quatre about this time. He smiled at the image of the two of them, it was obvious they were in love, and they were both so lucky.

He called to them both "Trowa, Quatre" Quatre rolled over and rubbed at his eyes, rising out of sleep.

"Duo?" he said, then noticed Trowa on the bed beside him. A huge smile took over his face. 

"Good night?" asked Duo.

"Yes" answered Quatre. He grinned even wider at Duo, who was silently begging for details, but he said nothing, just watched as Trowa opened his eyes. "Good morning" he said, bending down to kiss him.

"Wonderful morning" answered Trowa.

Duo left them alone to dress, telling them to meet him in the hotel restaurant for breakfast, then he went to see if he could persuade the waitress to bring him extra toast. 

***

They sat around the table, in a council of war. Trowa sat very near to Quatre, as he didn't want to be separated from him. Quatre had told him about Duo's search for Heero, and he had worked out the cause with little prompting.

"So, where should we go next?" asked Quatre. "It's obvious Heero's not in Paris, where else do you think he might have gone?"

"Japan?" suggested Duo "I think his folks came from there before they moved out to the colonies."

"No" said Trowa "I don't think that he would do that. He has no ties to his family."

"You're right" said Quatre "He never speaks about his family, and he doesn't seem to have any particular loyalty to them. There's little reason for him to go back there."

"There are only two things that he does have loyalty to." said Trowa

"What're those?" asked Duo "The colonies, of course, but I can't think of another one"

"You." said Trowa

"What? Me? Come on, you can't be serious. Why would Heero have any loyalty for me?"

"Because you are his closest friend" said Quatre, who seemed to have taken up Trowa's side of the argument. "and because of the feelings he has for you"

"Here we go again. I shouldn't think Heero knows anything about these feelings you keep saying he has. Anyway, this isn't helping. We still don't know where we should go and look for him"

"I think America. Isn't that where your ancestors came from, Duo?"

"Yes, but America was a pretty big place, how're we going to know where to find him, even if he is there?"

Trowa got up, and silently fetched on old-style atlas, with country markings on it on the table. He opened it at the page that contained the continent of America, and they all looked at it, trying to decide where to go.

"I think New York." said Quatre "It's a large city, and I think Heero would feel more comfortable there than anywhere else. He likes to be connected, and to know what is happening, so I think he'd be in the largest city he could find."

"I don't know. Knowing Heero, he probably just stuck a pin in a map, so no one would be able to work out where he was going. He doesn't usually want anyone to find him."

Silent again, Trowa handed a pin to Duo. Duo looked at it blankly. "If that's what you think, then you might as well try it too." explained Trowa. 

Duo, although he wasn't convinced of the logic of this, obediently shut his eyes, and stuck the pin into the map. He opened his eyes, and read out the name printed where the pin was sticking. "Alaska" he said.

"Well, Duo, if you think so, but I can't see Heero going there. It's rather cold, I think, and I'd think he'd rather go to a city. You know how important communication is to him, he used to spend enough time on his laptop, so it's likely he wouldn't go anywhere where he'd be out of range. He does like to be near other people, even though he doesn't show it."

"I suppose so, Quatre, but Heero never seemed that bothered about where he lived. He just got on with it. Then again, I guess I'd rather go to New York anyway, I love the lights of the big city and all that, and New York is one of the biggest. We can always look somewhere else if we don't find him, it's not too likely that we will." said Duo, resignedly.

"Don't be disheartened, Duo, I'm sure we'll find him" replied Quatre.

"It's a long shot" replied Duo "We don't have enough evidence to guess where he'll be, really. Anywhere we look, we'll be equally unlikely to find him, if he doesn't want to be found. The guy could sneak into enemy bases, just as well as I could. He's not going to have got sloppy."

"Then we'll just have to hope that he wants to be found." said Quatre, effectively finishing off the conversation.

Trowa stood up. "I have responsibilities I have to attend to at the circus before we leave" he said, then turned to Quatre and spoke directly to him "I will be back soon, I just can't go without telling them. I'll organise things, then I'll come with you."

Quatre's face showed trust and understanding. He knew that Trowa wasn't going to run away from him so soon. "Alright. Take as long as you need. We'll get ready, and we'll meet you when you've finished."

Trowa smiled at him with gratitude, then nodded a goodbye to both of them, and walked out of the restaurant. The two boys watched him leave, moving around people as if they weren't there. 

When he had disappeared from sight, Duo turned to Quatre "OK, spill." he said "I want all the details."

Quatre turned bright red "We didn't..." he murmured, trailing off.

"Hey, I saw you in bed this morning, and notice I didn't ask for all the juicy details. I know you two didn't go that far, but I want to know what it feels like to have it all go right. You look pretty happy."

"Oh, I am," Quatre assured him. "I don't think I've ever been this happy."

"Good. I'm glad you're happy, otherwise I'd have to kick Trowa's ass."

Quatre giggled. "You'd better not do that Duo, he makes me very happy. He loves me, and he's the most perfect person in the world."

"I'm glad it's worked out for you Quatre, I hope it works out half as well for me. You're really lucky."

"Don't worry Duo, you'll be fine. Soon you and Heero'll be together just like Trowa and I are."

"I hope so. Have you decided on a date for the wedding?"

"What! Duo, it's a bit early for that don't you think?"

"Well, you should start planning early. You know how those big family weddings take time to prepare, and with your family it'll take years."

Quatre realised that Duo was kidding "He doesn't have much family, that makes up for my large one. I don't actually know much about where he came from, he never talks about it. I don't think we'll start planning the wedding yet, after all, I don't know if I want to get married."

"You mean you haven't always dreamed of a white wedding?"

"No, not really. It doesn't matter how you celebrate it, as long as the love is there."

"True. I just saw you as the wedding type Quatre"

"Well, I've changed. I've been growing up, I suppose, growing away from my background. I haven't seen any of my sisters for a while, which is a bit of a relief, they've always tried to run my life for me. It's interesting just to work things out on my own, even if it does worry me sometimes that I might be making the wrong choices." Quatre smiled "I'm pretty sure I haven't made a wrong choice with Trowa though, this seems so right."

"From where I'm standing, it looks right too." Agreed Duo

"Thanks Duo. You're a great friend. We should go and get some plane tickets, so you can find Heero, and be as happy as I am."

Duo sighed, but agreed, and they went off to book the tickets.

***

Duo sat in the plane and worried. He noticed the angsting was becoming routine for him on long flights, and hoped it wouldn't last. After all, it could get rather annoying. Trowa and Quatre were sitting across the aisle from him, both totally wrapped up in each other, so he had no one to talk to. He watched the news, and browsed the latest music and fashion charts, but nothing caught his attention, there was nothing that he wanted to do.

He lay back in his seat, sighed, and thought of Heero.

What would he be doing now? Duo had no idea what the other pilot liked to do with his free time, he didn't think he liked to have free time at all, judging by the extra time he spent on missions. He must have got something to fill up all the time that had come his way after the war ended, but Duo couldn't think what it could be.

It wouldn't be sport, Heero was truly too little a team player, and didn't strive for recognition on his own either. He liked to have a point, a mission, as it were. It would have to be work then, probably something helping others, if possible, Heero had always liked to save people.

Duo couldn't imagine Heero doing anything in a charity though, he was too cold. Charity meant reaching out, and he wasn't sure that Heero could do that. Oh well, perhaps he had learned, and anyway, Duo wouldn't know for sure what he was doing until he saw him.

Heero's physical appearance, Duo had a lot less trouble imagining. He had, after all, spent rather a long time looking at it, during their time as pilots. As much time as possible, in fact. A smile settled on his face, as he tried to recall the exact expression that he thought Heero would wear when he saw him. 

***

The arrival in America was relatively easy, although the government had not yet got rid of the forms they had to fill in on arrival saying that they were not drug dealers or subversives, and Quatre was glad that Duo's nationality could still be classed as American, otherwise he surely would have ticked all the wrong boxes. What they really didn't need was more attention from the authorities.

They travelled into the city by taxi, and all of them were impressed by it, it was so different to the magnificence of Paris, and yet it was special in its own way.

They reached their hotel, and this time it was Duo who spent the most time preparing to search. He set up his computer to search the city databases for any names or aliases of Heero, and the people he thought might help him. It was a less legal attempt than Quatre's had been, but Duo felt it was more direct. With Heero's computer skills it was perfectly possible that he could have deleted himself from any records, but Duo felt he had to try.

Quatre went ahead with his own search, as he had before, but was less assured of success this time, after all, he'd only found Trowa by chance, it was luck that Sally Po had seen him, so there wasn't much chance of finding Heero, who was much more low profile. He contacted local dignitaries and contacts anyway, whilst Duo waited for the results of his search to come in.

It didn't take long, then there was a satisfied 'beep' from Duo's computer, and its results were displayed on the monitor.

Duo rushed over to it. The moment he got there, his face fell. "No Heero" he said. Then it lit up again, and he rushed over to Quatre and Trowa. "Guess who I did find!" he asked.

Quatre shrugged "I don't know" he said. Duo turned to Trowa, who raised an eyebrow, and then guessed. "Wufei".

Duo stopped short "Hey! How did you guess?" he asked. "You've ruined my secret."

"Is Wufei really here?" asked Quatre.

"Yeah. I searched everything, not just credit cards and stuff. He's good, he wouldn't have come up normally, but he's not as good as me. A variation of his name came up on a tenants list." said Duo "I even got a picture to check." he beckoned them over to the computer, and sure enough, there was a picture of Wufei, looking with an annoyed expression at the camera, his hair tied back in its usual pony tail.

"I wonder why he's here" said Quatre "I don't imagine him living in a place like this. He's the sort of person who seems more comfortable in a more natural environment. Do you think living here is a penance for something he thinks he's done wrong?"

"It probably had something to do with his honour. That seems to be the most important thing to him" said Duo. He had learnt that peoples' motivation was less important than their actions. In war, if someone was trying to kill you, you fought, you didn't try and work out their personal reasons for doing it. The same was broadly true in life. If you tried to work out the reasons why people did things you ended up getting paranoid. Sometimes you just had to trust people, and realise that they could do things for no reason at all.

Duo sat at the computer, and tried to coax it into giving up Wufei's position. He tended not to think of his computer as a machine, but more of a person, so he often talked to it, or shouted at it when he was annoyed with it as he was at the moment.

Quatre watched him as he sat, trying to work out the twists and turns that the lives of the Gundam pilots had taken. Trowa, seeing he was worried, came up to Quatre and put his arms around him. Quatre relaxed into his hold, and the two of them stood peacefully, until Duo jumped up with annoyance, not finding the information he had wanted.

"Come on guys, let's go and look for him!" he said, and raced out of the door, his enthusiasm back, with the other two moving more slowly behind him.


	6. Travelling in Circles

Travelling in Circles:

Travelling in Circles: Chapter 6

by Blue Roses

Warnings and Disclaimers in Chapter 1

I think this is going to be the final chapter of this story. I've really enjoyed writing it, and having all your reviews has made the work worthwhile.

***

The journey to find Wufei was harder than they had expected. Firstly, the address Duo had found for him was several months out of date, and Wufei had moved, although Duo was sure that he was still somewhere in the city. The electronic records didn't help him, though, Wufei had obviously used a different name from the one had used earlier, or his landlord just wasn't interested in filling in forms. 

Whatever it was, it meant that they had to go and ask at his last address, and work forward from there. Luckily, his previous landlord was quite a pleasant man, who didn't mind telling the boys about his former tenant, and where he thought he had gone. His wife, who was sitting in the room that the landlord had invited them in to, expressed the opinion that Wufei should have more friends. 

Quatre thanked the couple for their advice, and their help, and the three of them got on the subway and then boarded a bus to get to the place where they had been told they were most likely to find Wufei. 

***

They found Wufei in the rundown apartment building that they had been directed to. He looked at them all in shock when he opened the door.

"How did you find me? What do you want?"

"Nice to see you too, Wufei! We saw you were in the area, so we thought we'd say hi. Aren't you going to invite us in or anything? We are your friends."

Quatre butted in on Duo, trying to be more polite. "Duo was searching for Heero, and your name came up on the city's database. We wanted to see you, it's been so long since we've all got in touch, and we thought it might be nice." Wufei looked unimpressed at this explanation, but he grabbed his keys from behind him.

"Well, I suppose now that you are here, we should talk. We keep up to date about events in each others lives. We could go and have a meal or something. There is a good restaurant not too far from here, we can talk there."

They followed Wufei, as he lead them to a small sushi restaurant. Quatre could see Duo was about to disagree, he had as much trouble with raw fish as he did with snails, but realising that this was Heero's cultural heritage he was thinking about, he decided that it couldn't be that bad.

Over the food, which Duo decided was not bad after all, Quatre and Duo explained to Wufei about their search, although Duo left out his real reasons for wanting to see Heero. He couldn't see Wufei agreeing with them, or understanding them. He didn't understand them himself, so he couldn't expect anyone else to.

Wufei listened, mainly in silence, and when the story was finished, he frowned. "Have you all forgotten all of your training?" he said.

The other pilots looked at him with surprise. The had no idea what he was talking about. 

"The place you start looking for someone is the place that they were last confirmed to have been seen. The world is slightly too large to just go off at random on a search for someone."

The other pilots looked at each other. What Wufei was saying made a lot of sense. They'd been letting emotions cloud their judgement, none of them had been thinking clearly in the past few days. Duo had been worrying about Heero, and Quatre and Trowa had only been thinking about each other.

"I guess you're right, Wufei, we have been doing this in an odd way, Guess we should start again." said Duo "So, Quatre, I guess we're going to London, then, right?"

"Yes Duo, London it is."

"We could all go! Wufei, you want to come?"

"No, Duo, I think I'll stay here. I've managed to build up some sort of a life, I don't need you ruining it"

"Ok, ok. Well, we can't go without seeing some of the sites. Why don't you take us to see the statue of Liberty, Wufei?" 

Wufei refused, and Duo finally got out of him that he hadn't been to see any of the sites of New York although he'd been living there for quite a while. Duo pretended to be shocked, and made them all pile into the subway to see some of the major tourist attractions. 

They went up the Empire State Building, saw Times Square, visited an art museum, went shopping and took a walk in Central Park. By the time they had finished, it was dark, the streets were lit only by the artificial lights, giving everything an orange glow. Quatre had to persuade Duo to go back to the hotel and get some sleep, since they had an early flight.

"New York will be here another time. You can always come back, Duo"

"I guess so, I just want to do it all and see it all now. I want to see Heero, though, I suppose I have to go." he sighed, still unsure of what he was going to do. "Let's go"

***

The airport at London was very similar to all the others Duo had been in for the past few days of his travels. It was all getting rather routine; get on a plane at one place, and arrive at somewhere almost identical, yet thousands of miles away, after a few hours. It was routine to many people, although the war and the breakdown of country barriers actually made travel more difficult for a while because of all the confusion. 

Still, Duo enjoyed travelling. This was not half as good as space travel of course, even the most wonderful view didn't give you the thrill that looking into the blackness of space did, it was like staring into infinity, and nothing could beat that. Being flown by someone else had nothing on piloting a Gundam either, but it was relaxing to put life on hold for a while, put your feet up, and let someone else make the decisions. After all, you weren't even in a proper time zone, why should you think about the rules?

Once the plane touched down, however, Duo's life was his own again, and he slipped back into it with ease. He managed to call them a taxi, a black cab this time, rather than the yellow ones they had ridden in in New York, and they journeyed again to their hotel, picked out by Quatre, the one he had stayed in before. It wasn't too close to the centre of the city, but it was near an underground station, which Quatre promised would take them all over the city. 

Once they started looking for Heero, Duo realised that this would be a harder task than all the other times. For one thing, Quatre was more interested in Trowa than thinking of the task at hand, and Duo couldn't blame him. The two spent all their time together. Duo joked that people would think they were stuck together if they spent any longer at each others sides.

The other problem was Heero's hacking skills. They knew he had been in London, but they couldn't find any records indicating that he had been there at all, or where he had gone, if he wasn't there any more. He didn't appear on any passenger manifests of planes, he didn't seem to have any credit card records, or anything else. He must have been under another name, which wasn't surprising, after all, he wasn't really called Heero either, but they couldn't find or think of what he might be calling himself. Duo even tried his own name, since Heero had used it before, but nothing came out. There was only one Duo Maxwell in the British Isles. 

After a day of searching records and pacing up and down his hotel room, Duo had had enough. Heero might as well be invisible for the amount of attention he got from the authorities. That was fine in war time, but when you were looking for someone, it really didn't help. Obviously he'd never got over the wartime paranoia that infected them all at one time or another. 

Duo thought some fresh air would help him think. Well, it wouldn't hurt at the least. As he walked and walked, though, he kept seeing couples hugging, kissing, or just being together, and the sight burnt into his heart. 'I'm never going to have that' he thought. I don't even know why I'm searching, there's no point. I might as well give up now, I'll never find him, and even if I do, he couldn't love me.

It was at that moment, when he'd convinced himself that he'd never see Heero again that Duo saw him. It was pure chance. If either of them had walked past a few minutes later they would not have met, and Duo would have gone on worrying, and probably not found Heero at all. Still, fate has a sense of humour, and it suited it that Duo should catch sight of the other pilot he had spent so long looking for, just as he was coming out of shop on the other side of the street.

Heero was looking the other way, but Duo immediately recognised him. At first he thought it was a trick his mind was playing on him, he had been thinking of Heero so much, but as he turned his head he realised that this was no daydream but the real thing. Scarcely pausing for a moment, in case doubt got in and Heero got away, Duo ran across the road as quickly as he could, allowing for traffic, shouting "Heero!"

Heero spun around the first time Duo called his name, and stopped when he saw Duo coming towards him, the focussed, impassive look Duo was so used to replaced for the moment by a brief look of shock.

Duo finally reached the other side of the road, and swerving around two rather startled pedestrians, he came to stand in front of Heero. They looked at each other for a long moment, neither speaking, both content just to observe for the moment the changes the time they had been apart had wrought.

In the end, seeing Heero almost knocked out by a passing pensioner, Duo suggested that they take their reunion somewhere more private. Heero agreed, then turned around, and led Duo away from the bookshop that he had come out of, and up the road.

They entered a park, Regents Park, Duo thought it was called, but Heero was walking too fast for him to read the signs. He followed Heero into the park, noticing the roller-bladers who had obviously decided to claim the pathways for their own.

The two walked side by side for a while, then came to rest on a bench. Duo looked at Heero. "I was looking for you, you know. I suppose I should tell you all about it." Heero looked as if he was about to say something, but Duo waved him away.

"You have to let me say this Heero, because if I don't say it now, I don't think I'm ever going to say it. I came here to talk to you about this, and now I don't know if I can"

He sneaked a look at Heero, who was still standing before him, looking mainly impassive, but Duo could see the confusion in his eyes, and the hint of compassion. He knew Heero felt... he just didn't show it as much as other people did. He could feel something for Duo, he might not, but it wasn't impossible.

Duo took a deep breath. "Heero" he said, his voice cracking "I'm in love with you"

He stopped. There was nothing else he could say. He had done it. Now it was up to Heero. He had just put his heart in the hands of someone even he had described as cold, but still he hoped. Perhaps it would be all right. Perhaps, this once, things would go well.

The air was silent. Duo started to worry. 

Heero was staring at Duo, as if trying to judge a very serious problem. Duo had seen him look that way at a Gundam whose repairs wouldn't be done in time, or someone who he wanted to co-operate with him. He didn't look as if he had just been told that someone was in love with him, but then his reactions were always unexpected. 

"Well?" Duo couldn't take the tension, he needed to know what Heero felt, after all he had been waiting for a long time to say this.

Heero was still silent. That was why people thought of him as antisocial, he was able to hold out silences for longer than anyone else Duo knew, even Trowa. He managed not to speak even when others felt obligated to. Society's rules of politeness had no value for Heero, he would wait until he had decided what to say, and then he would speak.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Duo, Heero had sorted out his feelings enough to speak. "When you stopped me, I was going to say that I wanted to see you too. We didn't get to know each other very well in the war, and I wanted to know you. What you just said surprised me, Duo. How can you love me?"

"I do know you, Heero. I know you're the sort of person who will self-destruct for his mission at the least reason, and who will always complete his duty, whatever he needs to do. If you don't think you know me, then I'm sorry, but I tried to be your friend."

"I know you did, Duo, it's my fault. I didn't want to be near people during the war, I thought I could do it all on my own. 

I'm not sure of what I feel about you Duo, but I know I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since I last saw you. I don't want you to leave again. Take a chance on me Duo, just once more. I think I might love you, but I don't know."

Duo looked at him. "What do you mean, you're not sure?"

"I don't know what love is, Duo. I want to be near you, I want to touch you. I want to hear your voice. I don't want to have to live without you. I don't know if that's love, though" he stared into Duo's eyes, as if looking for the truth there "is it?"

Duo considered the desperate look in Heero's eyes. "Sounds like the way I feel" he said, then slid along the bench towards Heero, and kissed him.

***

A/N: Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you to all of those who reviewed, and everyone who liked it. If you want to moan about the ending not being good enough, or say whether you liked it, then review, or email me at [blue_roses42@hotmail.com][1]

   [1]: mailto:blue_roses42@hotmail.com



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